Page 35 of Cruel Expectations

After sifting through a few envelopes, she spotted a familiar logo on one that happened to have her name on it.

“Oh good!” That bank card she’d been missing for months now was going to make her life so much easier. The money that came from her travel vlog went directly to the online account she could only access through her digital wallet since the card was mailed here. When she went to buy her plane ticket home, she didn’t have a secure card to book the flight, which led to her hocking that beautiful Gucci purse to pay cash.

She took a moment to activate the card and stashed it away before moving on with sorting through the pile of mail.

When she spotted the bill for the credit card she had been traveling with—the one that got declined several times—she paused for a beat.

Past Due was stamped on the front of the envelope.

She tore it open and skimmed the pages of the statement.

Not only past due but maxed out.

Oh god. What was going on? Her father should have been paying this card all along, but it looked as though he’d been ignoring the bill.

Or—she flipped through a few more envelopes—all of the bills?

What was going on? Maybe she should go to Meadow with this.

She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Surely her sister would have mentioned a problem with the finances if she knew about it. That meant she was in the dark.

Meadow had already done enough holding down the ranch for nine months, dealing with their father’s sullen moods since their mother died. She’d already given so much of herself, worrying about their father while Ivy was still in Europe. For now, Ivy would keep this to herself.

If she was going to get to the bottom of things, she had her work cut out for her.

* * * * *

Hunter hefted a bag of feed into the back of the ATV. The noise of a truck pulling up to the garage filled the air.

Colton must have returned from the errand he was running. He told the ranch hands he was just going out for supplies, but the steady look he’d given Hunter said otherwise.

He returned to the shed to grab a second bag, his mind switching from the threats they were defending against to the task he was doing.

Ranch chores didn’t take much training. He didn’t even mind the physical labor. After being laid up in the hospital for so long, it was welcome, even if his leg did give him pain sometimes at night.

For the past three nights, Colton had placed him on security detail. He’d set up with a rifle and binoculars in a position overlooking the ranch. All night long, he watched the ranch the way a working dog watched over a flock of sheep.

He wished his mind was easy during those long, lonely hours, but it churned with memories and flashes of what he’d lost. Basically, he spent eight hours a night with every goddamn one of his demons.

After the sun crested the horizon, the ranch hands relieved him of his duty, and Hunter returned to his bunk to catch a few hours of shuteye, a reprieve from what he’d endured.

Now late afternoon burned into evening. The heat of the Indian summer had sweat trickling down the back of his neck and soaking his shirt.

“You look like you could use a cold drink.” Colton’s voice made him swing around.

With the fifty-pound sack of feed balanced on his shoulder, Hunter nodded. “I could. But this heat is nothing.” Neither of them needed a reminder of the conditions they’d fought in.

“That’s true. After you put that feed in the back of the ATV, take a break. I’ll grab us both a drink.”

He ducked his head in agreement and sauntered over to the small vehicle he was loading. He’d drive to the back pasture, where he’d dump grain into the trough for the horses pasturing there and make sure they had plenty of water too.

After dumping off the bag, he joined Colton at the training pen. It seemed to be one of his favorite spots to lean and just watch the horses—or more likely, to watch Meadow when she was in there training the animals.

Hunter had to agree the place offered a type of peace he’d never experienced before. Something about the way the horses existed without a care took away a few cares of whoever viewed them.

He twisted off the cap of a water bottle and took a swig. “Thanks, brother.”

“No problem.”

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